>> i was like are we going to lose our lives? >> the youngest victims of hurricane sandy speaking out a year after the super storm. ♪ >> europe searching for answers about u.s. surveillance programs as new spying revelations come

to light. el mundo reported that the national security agency spied on 60 million phone conversations there alone. it comes as an european delegation now visiting the u.s. al jazeera now join us from the white house. how has the white house responded to these latest allegations of spying on world leaders. >> reporter: as far as the latest allegations on the spanish, the millions of spanish who have been monitored by the nsa, nothing yet. we have a briefing coming up in an hour or so where we expect questions to be asked. as far as previous allegations we have an anonymous leak to the wall street journal saying that president obama knew nothing about this until this summer when he had an internal review--there wasn't an internal

review, he found about it then and immediately put a stop to the spying on german chancellor angela merkel. but other reports say that he knew about the surveillance of angela merkel in 2010. there have been rumbles of how the european governments could be careful because edward snowden may have information about how much cooperation european governments gave to the surveillance. >> as they wrap up meetings on capitol hill, what are they saying after the first meeting emerges. >> reporter: this is part of an european inquiry set up a few months ago. this has been long planned. the first stop at chairman of the house intelligence mike

rogers who said he didn't understand what all the fuss was about, that they should be glad europe is spying on them because its keeping them safe. not much there. there is talk of ongoing dialogue but the chairman of european union foreign affairs has said confidence has been damaged. >> has anything been said that their spying headquarters have been linked so they can share the spy information. >> reporter: that's the big question, what we haven't learned from the edward snowden is the amount of cooperation from the european governments and the national security agency. this is something that they have been very concerned about. as far as world leaders who are talking about things, angela merkel and so on, you have to

wonder if this is shock that their personal calls have been monitored or this is going beyond what they have been told. this is actually about commercial espionage, political espionage. it's not so much about keeping europe safe as we're hearing from the administration. and president obama keeps on talking about rigorous oversight of all of this. if he doesn't know that angela merkel's phone is being tapped how rigorous is this? >> two former editor of the accompliss of theenglish tabloid with eavesdropping. this is the first criminal charge stemming from the hacking scandal that began two years ago. the u.s.-arab league envoy

iis in damascus for peace talks. we have the latest from beirut. >> reporter: abrahami has arrived in damascus and he's supposed to meet with officials from the syrian government as well as bashar al-assad. now he's going to hear what would be the conditions for the syrian government to attend this geneva two conference, the syrian government has been very clear all along and really his position has not changed since the geneva one conference in 2012. they said that they would not sit with any civil factions that have foreign oh support. that puts out the entire syrian national council. what damascus has been trying to do is trumpeting its patriotic opposition, one that it would speak to, but many in the syrian national council that would tell that you this is a hand-picked

opposition that in the end would actually put forward the interest of bashar al-assad himself. this is very difficult situation there coupled by the fact that you have an opposition that is fragmented, 19 rebel groups quite influential on the ground, had issued a statement saying that it would consider anyone who actually geese to those talks as a traitor, and that the geneva two talks if they happen, indeed, it would go against the aspirations of this syrian revolution. then you have amongst the players not much unity there. abrahami has been trying to go to saudi arabia. saudi arabia has refused to talk to him. it is angered since russia and washington did not go ahead with the strike. it is very angry about the international community and it's position toward syria's use of

chemical weapons. it's a very complicated situation. we're still at this stage where these are talks about the talks. he is just gauging the temperature, trying to figure out whether he should issue the invitation to that conference in the first place, or if it's a useful effort. >> thank you very much. meanwhile the violence of that civil war see roding the basics of civilized life. >> reporter: preparing the foundations to his house, which he is building himself out of mud. bashar al-assad's army bombed his home, forcing him to flee into the countryside with his wife and seven children in search of refuge. the area is baron and deserted. he has to resort to primitive methods. >> our homes were destroyed. we came here with nothing. the children were terrified so we had to flee. >> reporter: it was not only

ahmed who is building a new home out of mud. they can't afford cement and proper building materials, so they, too, have had to return to making houses from the earth. >> cement and bricks are too expensive. we can't afford them. we decided to build from mud. all we needed for that was dirt and hay. >> reporter: there is a total absence of government services. with the cold season just around the corner building these basic homes is probably the only thing that will make a harsh winter slightly more bearable. as these families are forced to live in mud houses, arab countries are competing to build the tallest buildings. that makes building these mud huts even harder to take. al jazeera. >> tomorrow marks a year since sandy, the storm that devastated parts of new york and new jersey. some residents are still rebuilding, trying to work and raise their family at the same

time. we continue our original series "surviving sandy one year later." >> reporter: we've seen men and women break down crying from the stress of the storm and recovery. we can imagine thousands of children felt that same stress we haven't heard much from them until now. i sat down with an inspiring group of kids who shared their own personal stories, some expressing their feelings since sandy hit a year ago. >> we're right by a beach. so when the water came in, it was like a tsunami coming through our house. >> the water came so fast we had to just get out of there. >> i was like, are we going to lone our lives? >> my name is john and i'm nine years older. >> i'm courtney. >> i'm naomi. >> i'm kevin, and i'm 15 years old. >> reporter: seven children from five families who all suffered through super storm sandy when it hit staten island one year ago. >> my dad was screaming out the window at the firemen.

my lizard was in a box. my bird was in a box. my dog was ready, they never came. >> well, i was in the hotel that night, and my brother and my father had stayed home, so we were split. so we couldn't get in touch with them. so we thought they had died. [ sobbing ] >> when the storm passed, what did you think the next day? >> that i was safe with my family. >> and that's all that mattered? >> every was okay, thank god, but yeah, like, we didn't expect this to happen at all. >> i really didn't care about anything else, my house, all my stuff. i was just happy to be alive at that point. >> alive, yes, but their lives were turned upside down. >> chairs got to places i never thought would be possible.

>> i felt sad because all my toys were gone. >> reporter: for most of them rebuilding was rough. >> it seems like it would take forever to get the house rebuilt. we had to stay in an apartment for six months, i hated it. >> reporter: everyone had to grow up fast because some had to pitch in to recover. >> when i say fema, do you have a good reaction or a bad reaction. >> good reaction. >> both, both. >> they just stopped helping us. we needed the help. >> fema is not there to help you the entire way. it is there to help yourself. >> my friends gave me supplies. >> so you like going to school? >> others felt less safe at schools since a couple of classmates were incentive. >> girls started making fun of me telling me to go home and wash my clothes. i said i don't have a home to wash my clothes.

>> my grades went down a lot because we were in a hotel with five people. it was pretty hard to study. >> reporter: now a year later. >> we're back at our house, and just looking out for each other. >> we have food to eat. nothing else really matters. >> reporter: as grown up as those perspectives seem they are still kids who found fun along the way. >> when we were cleaning up the first day my cousin was outside. i got really bored so i shot him with the power washing without realizing how powerful that was. >> reporter: a few even saw a silver lining. >> i saw my toys damaged. isn't that like christmas. yay, toys. >> reporter: they are the perfect example of how resilient kids can be, but there is no doubt the storm affected them all. now their parents were sitting off to the side of our interview, and one mother told me this group conversation was the first time she had heard her

son describe his feelings just after the storm. back to you. >> erica, thank you very much. for the first time since sandy pounded the beach a year ago, ellis island is opened with ceremonies. we'll go to john terret. how much of the facility is going to be open to visitors? >> reporter: by the way, did you know most of it is in new jersey. the supreme court of the united states made that ruling in the 1990. >> the europeans are now coming out of their meeting concerning the nsa wiretapping situation. let'let's go to that meeting rit now. >> find a new way that fights terrorism. >> a push for expanding and your cooperation between europe and u.s. and chairman rogers would you welcome expanding the

relationship from here? >> first of all we have to say that we're always in favor of close cooperation against terrorism while it is goingen. the question is the limits and the legal rights of the citizens are protected, and we need to find a balance between the relationship for security-- >> once again these are the european leaders that have been leading with the senate intelligence committee and house intelligence chair mike rogers standing in the background. they're concerned about the allegations that the united states has been eavesdropping in on the conversations of millions of american citizens. should mike rogers comes to the microphone. let's listen to what they have to say. >> the set up between the european union and the united states.

>> we think at the policy level is where we're going to find areas where we agree and can move forward. this is not just about intelligence service fixing a problem with another intelligence service. we're working from two different angles. one is to rewrite the perceptions that may be wrong in this particular--in some of these cases, and what the concern, legitimate concerns are from the e.u. parliamentarians about the information collection and how it all works. it's important to understand that we're going to have to have a policy discussion that is bigger than any individual intelligence agency in europe or the united states. we all agree with that. that's why we'll continue to

have trans-atlantic dialogues to get to a place where we have re-established trust. a lot of that, i think, clearing up of some of the misperceptions of what's happening versus the value of the intelligence being collected. one of the things being discussed no longer is it easy for italy, france, or spain to say this is exactly what happens in this particular country. we are on a worldwide web. information and people are flying across that web all the time. >> you're listening to house intelligence chair mike rogers addressing the situation of the nsa spy scandal, and the allegations that the united states lived in on conversations of 35 world leaders. we'll leave that and take to you the installation ceremony for came.

>> today we're truly honored to be joined by president barack obama. mr. president, on behalf of every fbi employee it is my privilege to welcome you back to fbi headquarters. we also have a number of other special guests here today including former directors webster, sessions, and a special warm welcome back to director muller and his wife ann. we also welcome former attorney general ashcroft and mullcasey.

we're honored to have you here today. i want to take a moment to invite president obama on the stage, and to my far left, a friend and colleague with whom director comey worked to help some of richmond's hardest hit neighborhoods. judge john walker, director comey was his first law clerk when he was a new judge on the district court bench in the southern district of new york. and most importantly director comey's wife, patrice. thank you for taking part in today's ceremony. we are also pleased to have

director and mrs. comey's children, maureen, kate, brian, claire, and abby. welcome. also director comey's brother and sister, trish, peter, and chris, we welcome you. and a special welcome to director comey's father brian, welcome. we are here today for two purposes. first as many of you know director comey was sworn in during a private ceremony in attorney general holder's office on september 4th. but we reviewed the rules and regulations and determined that

oath was invalid because his spouse was not holding the bible. so officially i've been director. and second equally important we wanted to be able to officially welcome director comey and his family into the fbi family. we are all honored to mark this occasion along with director comey's family and his close friends. now with those who are seated, the few, please rise for the presentation of colors by the fbi police color guard. please remain standing for the singing of the national anthem by jimmy wailer, a retired new york port police officer,

who has worked in new york, and whose voice was heard at the funerals of so many of his colleagues killed on september 11th. >> we're going to pause and go to a commercial break while we're waiting for the comments from the white house, and also from the new fbi director, james comey. we'll be right back.

>> what a difference a year makes. a year ago this time super storm sandy, a lot has changed in the course of one year. >> meteorologist: has has changed, del. take a look at this picture behind me. i live in battery park, and you can see the beautiful blue sky. in the backdrop behind this maple tree i was walking and i saw this tree just absolutely gorgeous with the red, the orange and also the green. we're going to deal with

pristine conditions across the northeast here. high pressure in control. we have a few spotty showers across main and freeze warnings earlier across portions of new york stay. those have sense fallen off. it's a beautiful day today. high of 61 with mostly sunny skies. we have cool air as we track on in to tuesday. wednesday, mostly cloudy skies and that rain will be falling. take a look, you can see the freedom tower in the backdrop against that beautiful blue sky again as you said, del, how much has changed in a year. a look at temperatures across the country. 31 degrees in billings as we track into today. why is that? because we have a storm pushing in out of canada. snow falling around billings, just light snow as of right now. we're expecting to see two to four inches by the end of the day, and that's why we have winter storm warnings in affectt across montana, idaho, and we're looking at snow falling across the sierra. you can see where the pink is

lighting up with the were you here right across sierra. we can see anywhere from two to four inches of snow also. now check out temperatures. you can see a big difference when you go from rapid city to tulsa. that's because warmer air is in place across tulsa. cooler air from rapid city, and these two air masses could certainly produce air masses over kansas. >> a reminder to our audience we continue to watch the swearing in of james comey as the next fbi director. right now they're going through the official protocol. they'll have the invocation and then a short time after that the president will speak. if and when he does we'll bring that to you live. these days you can get an app for anything and everything for your smart phone. now tech developers are moving one step forward. they're creating computers you can wear. the promise and progress

surrounding this new technology. >> reporter: here at the war room at the at&t hack-a-thon in seattle it's not about breaking into yo computers but creating ideas that can be the next technology that you can wear. >> by day i'm a manager and by night i'm a fashion designer. >> erin and her software engineer friends are merging their skills. >> we've turned this entire glove into a circuit board of sorts. >> reporter: to create a glove that can turn into an air guitar and one day into something that could change someone's life. >> creating something where people who are challenged in terms of mobility have the ability to interact with computers in exciting ways. >> reporter: alex created this event three years ago. >> coming to these hack-a-thons, meet ups, and social events and finding the experts in the room

have already gathered there, and asking the questions they need to level up on the knowledge. >> reporter: hack aknoc-a-thon y definition is taking one product and making it something else. a sensor is played insid placeda shoe. it can be used to track activity or track movement for video games. >> developers, designers, hackers on board to play around with the possibilities. >> reporter: a big part is to find innovative ways to use existing it like this brain wave reader. iit attaches to your head, and dependepending on what is happeg inside, the cat ears move. >> there are great concerns in terms of who has access to that data and how transparent are they.

>> reporter: professor hanson hoison wears a watch that track his activity all day. but he doesn't share that information where third parties could collect the data. >> first of all who is going to use that data. eventually as the healthcare gets more expensive and expansive, could they say we looked at how much you exercised today and we looked at your fridge and it said you ate this many calories, we're charge your premiums for. >> reporter: we look at how these could help and possibly hurt our lives. al jazeera seattle. >> again, we're keeping our eye on the events that are unfolding at washington, d.c. this being the installation ceremony of james comey, director of the fbi. interesting there are four others who are in attendance there. also not lost on anybody the irony of where that particular ceremony is taking place, inside

the j. edgar hoover building named fo for the worst known keeping files when security and privacy is a concern. here is the the swearing in of james comey. >> before we d do the oath of office, let me say this is a very proud day for james comey, which is hiv wife patrice. and it's a prouder day for the men and women of the fbi and for all of us who care about this premiere law enforcement agency, including all of the former fbi directors and former attorney generals many of whom are here today. ever since our year together, which was great fun as we both

learned our new jobs. i told jim, who is 6'8", as you can see, to watch his head. jim didn't need any prompting from me. he's a modest guy. he has always been serious about his work, but at core he never takes himself too seriously. after that first year i had high expectations for jim, that they had been exceeded is due in no small part to the open, genero generous, modest kind of person that he is. jim, of course, is a fine lawyer, hard working and smart, but also a natural leader who inspires those around him. this ability to inspire has been evident throughout his remarkable career in law enforcement. as a decorated assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. deputy attorney general under attorney general ashcroft in the bush administration, he h